Slotted brick.



J. P. B. FISKE.

SLOTTED BRICK.

APPLICATION FILED Jun. 1915.

Patented July 4, 1916.

lTUU LTOIUGIULMJZB UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

J'ONATH AN P. 'B. FISKE, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SLOTTED BRICK.

Application filed July 1, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN P. B. FIsxE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Slotted Brick, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on'the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention is a hollow or slotted brick, which may be, and preferably is,

made of standard brick dimensions.

Important objects of the invention are to provide a brick which will afford a substantial saving in brick material, in weight, in

transportation charges, and handling, and yet which will be equal in strength to that of ordinary common solid brick.

It is also an important feature of my novel hollow or slotted brick, to so arrange the voids or slots that they shall-either be so narrow, or will be so arranged as to be partially closed at each bed surface of the brick, to thus prevent mortar falling through the openings and filling same, when being laid up in wall construction. This particular. advantage is of great value, as in all prior hollow brick construction of which I am aware, the voids or openings therethrough were either too small to efiect a substantial saving in material and weight, and hence of no importance, or of square or round formation in cross section and were objectionable in building in a wall, the mortar falling through and filling the openings. I prefer to so form the slots in my improved brick, that they will be sufficiently narrow to have the openings at either bed of the brick partially closed or filled in by the action of the cutting reel when severing the brick material into individual bricks. It is, however, within the scope of the invention to subject each brick to a further action for the special purpose of partially closing these openings, as well, also, as to form the slots .so narrow that when the mortar course is laid thereacross, the mortar will not fall through.

In addition to the advantages of lightness, saving in material and mortar, my slotted brick, having the slots parallel with the ends or heads and extending throughout the greater width of surface of the bed and entirely through the thickness of the brick, facilitates the breaking or severing of a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4., 1916.

Serial No. 37,465.

brick 'into sections by the trowel of the brick-layer, such sections being evenly and accurately cut at either side of any one of the slots.

In the manufacture of these slotted brick, I have discovered that a very im-' portant saving is made in the kiln burning, my slotted brick reducing time of burning from two to three days. In burning solid brick it is necessary to run the kiln from seven to eight days, depending upon the particular clay body. being used,.whereas in burning slotted brick embodyingmy invention, I find that about five days, or from four days to five, is ample. This affords an immense saving in fuel, in attendance, and in the expense of maintenance, the kiln also cooling down quicker, and being capable of being emptied and filled for each burning with a saving of considerable time, fuel, and attendance.

I find that a still further advantage possessed by my slotted brick in the kiln burning, is that owing to the slots through each brick, that a more uniformproduct is protions hard and evenly, even vitrifying the entire webs and faces of each brick.

I prefer to form the brick with webs and slots of substantially equal extent in cross section, making seven slots through the brick and leaving eight webs, the two end webs constituting the heads of the brick and extending said slots toward either face, leaving the material between the ends of the slot and said faces also of approximately equal thickness to that of the webs. This brick, so formed, in a die with the slots in the line of the stream of brick material, being side out with an ordinary wire reel, results in the wires partially closing both entrances to each slot, breaking or working the brick material across the face and closing it sufiiciently so that when the brick is dried,

- mensions.

burned, and made up in a wall, the mortar course will not fall through the slots. This not only prevents the mortar from falling through, but also enables a slight lateral bonding grip to be obtained, which firmly keys each brick in place, adding great strength to the bonding. This mortar retaining feature enables me to secure as great a mortar surface on each brick, as if it were solid, insuring each web being covered by the mortar course, and therefore bearing its load and economizing the mortar by preventing waste in falling through the slots, while still giving an interlocking or extra grip between brick and mortar. As the compressive strength of a brick wall is limited by the strength of the mortar course, I retain approximately as great amortarretaining surface as that of solid brick, together with all the advantages of hollow brick, lightness in weight, saving in ma terial, kiln burning, transportation charges, etc. A further advantage in building construction with my slotted brick, is that a workman can lay same faster and with less fatigue and more brick can be carried per hod owing to the much lighter weight. In building curtain walls of steel buildings, where the walls are carried by the steel frame, this saving in weight is so considerable that a lighter steel frame can be uti-' lized.

I have mentioned a few of the advantages already experienced in practical work with my slotted brick which have thus far been noted. In comparison with a solid brick of the same dimensions, my slotted brick is from one-fourth to one-third lighter, i. e from 25% to 34%, as now made. By increasing the number of slots a still lighter and yet suificiently strong brick will be obtained, while the advantages already noted are retained.

My present invention should be distinguished from the hollow blocks, usuall of large size, and made in a press or mol as such blocks are not of standard brick di- My brick is of ordinary size, gives the exterior appearance of a solid brick wall, and has all the advantages of the regular sized brick which experience has proven to be most useful in all ways, 2'. 6. manufacturing, drying, hacking, burning, transporting, laying, and all labor questions, wages, measurements, etc., included. I have not herein claimed specifically the process of making this brick.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my slotted brick made in an ordinary die machine, with the slots cored therein; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the partial closing of the openings of each slot atthe bed surfaces by the action of the cutting reel wires; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a portion of the brick severed along the line 33 of Fig. 1 through one slot, showing the finished appearance of the severed end. I

As the brick material is forced out of a die machine, the slots 1 are formed therein by similarly shaped cores in the die, these' slots being lengthwise of the stream of brick material, as it issues from the machine, as indicated by the arrow A. These slots may be of any suitable number, leaving the webs 2, said webs and slots being herein shown as substantially equal in cross sectional area, andas extending throughout the greater portion of the height of the stream of brick material. As the material is brought under the cutting reel for.side cutting, the cutting wires passing through the same, form each individual brick, leaving the slots widthwise therein, as illustrated in F ig..1. This action of the cutting wires being radially positioned on a cutting reel and sweeping'through the mass of brick material in the direction indicated by the arrow B, forms the beds of each brick and breaks the still pliable clay material partially across the slot openings in each bed. As indicated in Fig. 3, the edges 3 of each slot through which the wire first passes will fall or be crowded over into the slot entrance while the opposite edge 4 in each slot which meets the cutting wire squarely will remain substantially unbroken. In stacking up this brick in a kiln the brick are preferably stood with the faces 5 uppermost, the slotted face or bed 6 being Vertical just as the brick are out after the clay issues from the die machine. When built in wall construction, however, the ,beds 6 are laid horizontally, as is usual. Thus in a wall constructed of my slotted brick, the voids or openings bein of a substantial large proportion an throughout a considerable extent of the brick, afford heat insulating air spaces, thus approaching to a considerable degree the advantages incident to-hollow tile or hollow wall construction.

I have employed the usual term face herein to designate the top and bottom surfaces of the brick as the same is formed, designated at 5 in Figs. 1 and 3. VVherea's I employ the term head to mean the ends 7 while bed refers to the sides 6 from which the slots 1 extend, the brick being laid or embedded in mortar in a wall construction, with the sides or beds 6 as the top and bottom, as shown in Fig. 2.

Although my preferred construction, and as herein illustrated, comprises a brick of standard size with a plurality of openings therein, it will be readily appreciated that my invention is equally applicable to a clay product with one slot, air space, or the like,

therein, having the opening of such air space substantially closed so as to retain mortar. The important characteristic of the invention is in producing a clay product with a void or voids therethrough partially closed at the openings of the same to prevent mortar falling through, and yet not so entirely closed as to prevent the circulation of air and heat during drying, kiln burning, etc., while at all times securing economy of clay material, lightness, and the other advantages heretofore pointed out.

My improved slotted brick, as thus constructed, has the important advantages of strength, lightness, many of the features of a hollow wall construction, and the capability of each brick carrying a-full layer of mortar on the bed surface. By my construction of breaking or crowding the clay mate rial from one side of one web only, the adj acent entrance, only, of each slot is closed sufficiently to prevent mortar falling through. Furthermore, this construction enables each web to extend from bed to bed for the full thickness of the brick, with one side broken down and the opposite side of the web unbroken and intact. If both webs were broken to close the entrances to the slots, the brick material in each web would generally be broken down below the normal bed surface of the brick, requiring an undue amount of mortar in building and rendering each web fracturable and with only a thin ridge or few points of full extent of the web as origiclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters I Patent is: g

1. As an article of manufacture, a brick having av series of slots and webs extending from bed to bed, the entrances of each slot being substantially closed by brick material from one side of one web adjacent said slot, the opposite side of said web being unbroken and intact.

2. As an article of manufacture, a. brick having a series of slots and webs extending from bed to bed, the entrances of each slot being substantially closedby brick material from one web adj acent said slot, the opposite side ofsaid web being unbroken and intact, and with the webs of full thickness and original formation, except at said substantially closed entrance.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JONATHAN P. B. FISKE.

Witnexes:

JAMES R. HODDER, SEBAsTIAN VAUGHAN. 

